Beijing MM Farm Hotel Renovation / Domain Architects

In contrast to the extremely urbanized downtown, the mountain area surrounding the city center of Beijing is still kept rural and natural. The site was a primary school abandoned for years in a mountain village in Beijing, consisting of four rows of brick and timber frame houses arranged in a repeated way and surrounded by high perimeter walls. As a rental property, the client wanted to renovate it into a high-end boutique hotel. Due to the lease terms and local regulations, any addition, subtraction, or major change to the original structures was not allowed. The project hired local villagers for construction in order to strengthen the connection with the village. Affected by the COVID-19 traffic controls, the building materials had to be sourced from locations as close as possible, while the actual construction time was only three months. Therefore, we had to find a low-tech and light intervention strategy to reform the site experience.